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Kes (film)
Kes /kɛs/ is a 1969 drama film directed by Ken Loach and produced by Tony Garnett. The film is based on the 1968 novel A Kestrel for a Knave, written by the Barnsley-born author Barry Hines. The film is ranked seventh in the British Film Institute's Top Ten (British) Films[3] and among the top ten in its list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14. Contents http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kes_(film)# hide *1 Plot *2 Cast *3 Production *4 Certification *5 Reception *6 Home media *7 Awards *8 See also *9 References *10 Literature *11 External links Plothttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kes_(film)&action=edit&section=1 edit The film focuses on 15-year-old Billy Casper, who has little hope in life and is bullied, both at home by his physically and verbally abusive half-brother, Jud, and at school. He is mischievous, stealing eggs and milk from milk floats, has difficulty paying attention in school, and is often provoked into tussles with classmates. Billy comes over as an emotionally neglected boy with little self-respect. Billy's mother refers to him in the film as a "hopeless case". His father left the family some time ago. The film shows scenes of Billy's school; the headmaster canes a group of boys who were caught smoking. One scene of comic relief in an otherwise bleak film is of a PE teacher taking part in a football game, fantasising about himself asBobby Charlton and commentating on the match. Outside cadging money and daydreaming at school, Billy has no positive interests. His greatest fear is ending up working down the pit as a coal miner, but he has no apparent escape route until he finds an outlet through training a kestrel that he takes from a nest on a farm. His interest in learning falconry prompts Billy to steal a book on the subject from a secondhand book shop, as he is underage and cannot be given a borrower's card from the public library. As the relationship between Billy and "Kes", the kestrel, improves during the training, so does Billy's outlook and horizons. For the first time in the film, Billy receives praise, from his English teacher after delivering an impromptu talk on his relationship with the bird. Jud leaves money and instructions for Billy to place a bet on two horses, but Billy spends the money on fish and chips and on meat for his bird, after having been told that the horses are unlikely to win. However, the horses do win (meaning Jud would have won over £10 if Billy had put the bet on). Furious at Billy and unable to find him, Jud takes revenge by killing his kestrel, whose body Billy retrieves from the bin. After showing the kestrel to Jud and his mother, Billy buries his kestrel in the garden. Casthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kes_(film)&action=edit&section=2 edit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kes_Film_Actors.jpgDavid Bradley, Freddie Fletcher and Lynne Perrie in 'Kes'.*David Bradley as Billy Casper *Freddie Fletcher as Jud *Lynne Perrie as Mrs Casper *Colin Welland as Mr Farthing *Brian Glover as Mr Sugden *Bob Bowes as Mr Gryce *Bernard Atha as Youth employment officer *Joey Kaye as Pub comedian *Bill Dean as Fish and Chip Shop Man *Geoffrey Banks as Mathematics teacher *Duggie Brown as Milkman *Harry Markham as Newsagent Productionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kes_(film)&action=edit&section=3 edit Both the film and the book provide a portrait of life in the mining areas of Yorkshire of the time, reportedly the miners in the area were then the lowest paid workers in a developed country.[4] The film was shot on location, including in St. Helens School, Athersley South, later renamed Edward Sheerien School (demolished in 2011); and in and around the streets of Lundwood. Set in Barnsley, the film contains broad local dialects. The cast have authentic Yorkshire accents and used or knew the dialects. The extras were all hired from in and around Barnsley. The DVD version of the film has certain scenes dubbed over with fewer dialect terms than in the original. In a 2013 interview, director Ken Loach said that, upon its release, United Artists organised a screening of the film for some American executive and they said that they could understand Hungarian better than the dialect in the film.[5] The production company was set up with the name "Kestrel Films". Ken Loach and Tony Garnett used this for some of their later collaborations such as Family Life andThe Save the Children Fund Film. Certificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kes_(film)&action=edit&section=4 edit The certificate given to the film has occasionally been reviewed by the British Board of Film Classification. It was originally classified as Universal, at a time when the only other certificates were Adult and X. Three years later, Stephen Murphy, the BBFC Secretary, wrote in a letter that it would have been given the new Advisory certificate under the system then in place.[6] Murphy also argued that the word "bugger" is a term of affection and not considered offensive in the area that the film was set. In 1987, the VHS release was given a PG certificate on the grounds of "the frequent use of mild language", and the film has remained PG since that time.[7] In the original undubbed version of the film, there is one case of the word "fucking" towards the end of the film although, as this takes place during an argument, it is not clear. In the dubbed version, which is more widely available, this is replaced by the word "bloody". The novel contains more and stronger profanity than does the film.[citation needed] Receptionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kes_(film)&action=edit&section=5 edit The film was a word of mouth hit in Britain, eventually making a profit. However it was a complete commercial flop in the US.[2] Roger Ebert said that the film failed to open in Chicago, and attributed the problems to the Yorkshire accents.[8] Ebert saw the film at a 1972 showing organised by the Biological Honor Society in Loyola, which led him to ask, "were they interested in the movie, or the kestrel?"[8] The film has universal acclaim and currently holds a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Home mediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kes_(film)&action=edit&section=6 edit A digitally restored version of the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection in April 2011. The extras feature a new documentary featuring Loach, Menges, producer Tony Garnett, and actor David Bradley, a 1993 episode of The South Bank Show with Ken Loach, Cathy Come Home (1966), an early television feature by Loach, with an afterword by film writer Graham Fuller, and an alternate, internationally released soundtrack, with postsync dialogue.[9] Awardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kes_(film)&action=edit&section=7 edit *1970: Karlovy Vary International Film Festival – Crystal Globe[10] *1971: Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award – Best British Screenplay[11] *1971: British Academy Film Awards[11] :*Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Colin Welland :*Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles – David Bradley Category:1969 films